JGP Croatia 2012 Ice Dance Preview

This is the second to last JGP. Although I rather expected some switching around of entries, this is the same list of ice dance entries that I saw last week. Kosigina & Moroshkin RUS won the short dance at Lake Placid over Aldridge & Eaton, by hitting all six key points. If they repeat that feat here, they have a chance of being so far ahead after the SD that it will be very hard to catch them. That would leave Zenkova & Sinitisin RUS to settle for silver. Zenkova & Sinitsin won the short dance at Courchevel, but finished second in the free dance there to Papadakis & Cizeron. Bent & McKeen CAN, the bronze medallists at JGP Austria, where they were second in the short dance and third in the free dance might indeed pass Zenkova and Sinitsin for the silver. The two teams are very close in strengths..

All three dance teams did very well in the pattern dance, so that should not be a huge factor in the competition this time.

In case of disaster, some other teams to watch are Nagornyuk & Kovalenko, who finished a strong fourth at JGP Sencila-Bled, Minov & Kim KOR, who are coached by Svinin & Zhuk, and looked very good in their Korean test skate qualifier for the JGP, and Nazarova & Nikitin UKR, who finished fifth at JGP Austria in recovering from a weak short dance performance.

Evgenia Kosigina & Nikolai Moroshkin RUS
SD Blues and Swing: Lord of the Dance - Capone by Ronan Hardiman
FD Michael Jackson Medley
Evgenia & Nikolai are coached by the team of Gorshkov & Shpilband. Their choreographer is Victor Kanevski.
They finished 5th at Russian Junior Nationals, a step down from their third place finish of the year before. as a result, they did not go to Junior Worlds.
They competed at JGP Lake Placid, winning the silver medal with a score of 135.24, a new personal best for them.
Their short dance, where they finished first at Lake Placid:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OHr1c7x6_A
Their free dance, where they finished second at Lake Placid:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKHfOlUXDno&feature=plcp

Valeria Zenkova & Valerie Sinitsin RUS
SD Blues: Your Heart Is As Black As Night; Swing: Brother Swing
FD Cats (musical) by A. L. Webber
They are coached by Alexander Zhulin & Oleg Volkov. Their choreographers are Alexander Zhulin & Sergei Petukhov.
Valeria is 17, and Valerie is 20.
They placed third at last year's Russian Junior Championships.
Their best ever total score was 130.58, earned at ISU JGP Trofeo W. Lombardi 2011.
Their FD at last season's Santa Claus Cup, which they won.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6CRRnvvbUM
They competed at JGP Courchevel, winning the silver medal with a score of 124.94.
Their Courchevel Short Dance, where they finished first:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuzurS3mWGc&feature=plcp
Their Courchevel Free Dance, where they finished second:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjSXgsoppzk&feature=plcp

Mackenzie Bent & Garrett McKeen CAN
Their programs:
SD Blues: History Is Made At Night by Marc Shaiman; Swing: I Never Met A Wolf Who Didn't Love
FD Misterio Y Fuego performed by Ensemble Vivant
Mackenzie is 15, and Garrett is 18.
Their coaches and choreographers are Carol and Jon Lane, and Juris Razgulajevs
Their highest ever ISU score was 120.69, obtained at JGP Brasov last season, where they won the bronze medal. They were fourth in juniors at Canadian Nationals last year.
They finished second in their section at Lake Placid IDC, with a score of 46.27, and fifth in the FD in their section, with a score of 63.34.
They competed at JGP Austria, where they earned 129.16, their personal best, and won the bronze medal.
Their shart dance at JGP Austriahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzYGXnML1zc
Their free dance at JGP Austria:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPX0k8sopfU

Anna Nagornyuk & Viktor Kovalenko UZB
SD Blues: One Night by Elvis Presley; Jive: Long Tall Sally by Elvis Presley
FD Me Voy by Jasmin Levy; Flamenco
Their coaches are Svetlana Alexeeva & Olga Riabinina, and their choreographer is Elena Kustarova. Anna is 16, and Viktor is 20.
Their best ever score was 114.98 at JGP Tallinn last year, where they placed sixth. They are the senior champions from Uzbekistan. They placed eight at Four Continents last year, and twenty-fifth at Worlds.
Their FD from the World Junior Championships last year, where they placed twelfth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLaLAAiI1Fs

Rebecka Kim & Kirill Minov KOR
SD Blues: Ain't Nobody's Business by Porter Grainger,; Swing: Black Cat Fever orchestral.
FD Midnight in Moscow by The Scorpions
They are coached by Irina Zhuk & Alexander Svinin who also do their choreography Rebecka is 14 &Kirill's 19.
They skated well at Korean JGP Selection competition in August. They might definitely surprise at this competition.
Here's their SDhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XycKiAJbPTY
Here's the FDhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...JcR5vwE#t=152s

Alexandra Nazarova & Maxim Nikitin UKR
SD Blues: Gota Broken Heart by Walter Trout; Swing Set
FD Gopher Mambo; Habanera; Malambo
Their coaches are Galina Churilova and Mariana Kozlova. Their choreographer is Larisa Fiodorova.
Alexandra is 15, and Maxim is 17.
They achieved their personal best score of 131.68 at the Youth Olympic Games 2012, where they won the silver medal in juniors.
They have rather different hobbies. Alexandra likes sky diving & swimming, while Maxim collects insects.
Their FD from NRW Ice Dance 2011, where they finished 5th.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9161...eature=related
They skated at JGP Austria, finishing fifth there, with a score of 114.18.
Their short dance from JGP Austria where they finished seventh.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4sMrc2jU8
Their free dance from JGP Austria where they finished fifth:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHGeomeb784

Rachel Parsons & Michael Parsons USA
SD Hip-Hop: 4 Minutes by Justin Timberlake, Madonna; Blues: Cyber Shanty Town Blus by Christian HipHop Factory
FD Walpurgis Night Faust Three Nymphs by Charles Gounod
Rachel is 14, and Michael is 16.
Rachel & Michael finished 3rd in their section at Lake Placid IDC in the SD with a score of 43.43 , and second in the FD, with a score of 63.83.
Their international personal best score of 114.22 was achieved at the Youth Olympics Games. They finished in fourth place in Juniors at US Nationals in juniors last season, and placed 15th at Junior Worlds.
Their FD from the World Junior Championshipshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx8JE89uc6U
They competed at JGP Austria., finishing sixth overall, with a score of 114.05.
Their short dance from JGP Austria where they finished fourth.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p6-_ZZvzOg
Their free dance from JGP Austria where they finished sixth.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHMj-25L1vI

Melinda Meng & Andrew Meng CAN
Melinda & Andrew are just moving up to the Junior division, and had not competed internationally as of January 2, 2012.. They did compete at Lake Placid IDC this summer, where they finished ninth in their section in the short dance with a score of 36.81, They did not compete in the free dance.

Slavyana Tsenova & Egor Zaytsev BUL
SD Blues: Aint No Sunshine When She's Gone; Hip-Hop: Ice Ice Baby
FD Samba, Rhumba, Samba
Their coach is Oksana Potdykova, and their choreographers are Nadezhda Hristova & Anna Nikolova. Slavyana is not yet 14, and Egor is 15.
Their best total score of 56.20 was recently earned at their first JGP outing at JGP Bosphorus 2012., where they finished twenty-first.
Their short dance from that competition is here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipV_y7EIBMw

Kathrin Häuser & Sevan Lerche GER
Their ISU biography has not been updated.
She's 17, he's 19. Their ISU bio has not been updated.
Coach: Vitali Schulz, Jimmy Young Choreographer: Mark Hanretty, Vitali Schulz
They were third at Junior Nationals in Germany.
83.27 at JGP Brasov 2011 is their personal best.
Their SD from JGP Brasovhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGegWDjlZY0

Olga Jakushina & Aleksandr Grishins LAT
Olga is 15, and Aleksandr is 18.
They have not yet announced their programs for this season..
Their coaches are Alexander Zhulin, Oleg Volkov, & Gennadi Akkerman, and their choreographer is Sergei Petukhov.
They competed at JGP Austria where they finished thirteenth overall; thirteenth in the short dance, and fourteenth in the free dance, with a total score of 73.77, which was a new personal best..
Their short dance from JGP Austria:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZbSRhl9zQ
Their free dance from JGP Austria:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55vALjJcnjQ

Millie Paterson & Edward Carstairs GBR
SP Blues: Mad World by Alex Parks; Swing; PJ and Rooster by Outkast
LP Ben from "Cirque du Soleil"; They Don't Care About Us from "Cirque du Soleil"
Their coaches are: Philip Askew & Nancy Ambler. Their choreographer is Philip Askew.
They were fifth in Juniors at British Nationals last season.
71.05 was their best ever score; earned at the Youth Olympics, where they placed sixth.
A video of them prior to the Youth Olympics, can be found here-they are filmed with Yu Na Kim who is giving them advice!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEkzl7Zepqw

Carina Glastris & Nicholas Lettner GRE
SD Blues; Swing
FD Twenties Ragtime and Charleston
This is a new team, coached and choreographed by the Scarborough school of Carol & Jon Lane & Juris Razguliaevs. Carina is 17. Nicholas is 19.They have added the following extra information to their ISU biography:

):
Glastris/Leitner teamed up in June 2012. She competed at the national level in the USA in 2011 and 2012 with Kevin Allison, while Lettner previously skated Pair sand competed in Ice Dance ( ETA with Rebecca Nelles. They finished thirteenth at Canadian Nationals in Juniors in 2012) at the national level in Canada. Glastris works with disadvantaged athletes in Nicaragua. Her sister Georgia (three years older) competes at the international level in single skating.

Anna Bolshen & Ronald Zilberberg ISR
SD Blues: Minnie the Moocher by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy; Swing: King of Swing by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
FD Pink Panther (soundtrack) by Henry Mancini
Anna is still 13. Ronald is 16. They train in Hackensack, NJ, with coach & choreographer Galit Chait.
They competed at the Lake Placid IDC, where they finished last in their section in both the free dance and the short dance. Here is a photo from their SD there:http://photography.ice-dance.com/201...-BZ-DB.jpg.php
They competed at JGP Bosphorus, where they finished fifteenth, with a first and best total score of 82.47
Their short dance, where they finished sixteenth:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FucKtFlCSk
Their free dance, where they finished fifteenth:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k-EGFagdtQ

Celia Robledo & Luis Fenero ESP
SD Blues: Your Heart Is As Black As Night by Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa; Swing: Tough Lover by Christina Aguilera (from "Burlesque" soundtrack)
FD Chicago (soundtrack)
Their coaches are Muriel Zazoui, R. Haguenauer, & Olivier Schoenfelder
Their choreographer is Romain Haguenauer.
They are the current Spanish National Junior Champions. This is their first year on the JGP, but they did compete at the World Junior Championships last year where they finsihed twenty-fourth, and did not qualify for the free dance. They placed seventh in Juniors in the Bavarian Open in Oberstdorf.
They competed at JGP Bosphorus, and earned a first and best score of 95.84, to finish twelfth overall.
Their short dance, where they placed twelfth:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-KwpiMohF4
Their free dance, where they placed thirteenth:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qONCafof40

Jasmine Tessari & Stefano Colafato ITA
SD Summertime by Geroge Gershwin; The Mask (soundtrack)
FD The Phantom of the Opera (musical) by A. L. Webber
Their coaches are Roberto Pelizzola & Nicoletta Lunghi. Their choreographers are Corrado Giordani & Paola Mezzadri.
Jasmine is 16 and Stefano is 17.
Their best score of 88.95 was earned at 2011 Baltic Cup. They placed eighth at last year's Youth Olympics. They did not compete at last year's Italian Championships. They recently placed eleventh at JGP Lake Placid, with a score of 79.56.
Their Short Dance at Lake Placid:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZshhVzsyG4
Their Free Dance at Lake Placid:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8bbGa-Yc4k

Szilvia Magyar & Daniel Illes HUN
SP Blues: I Wanna Walk You Home by Fats Domino; Quickstep: Zoot Suit Riot
FD The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Their coaches are Ilona Berecz & Noemi Vedres. Their choreographers are Noemi Vedres (SD) & Olivier Schoenfelder (FD).
Szilvia is 16, as is Daniel.
They withdrew from last year's Santa Claus Cup, and finished third at the previous year's Santa Claus Cup in the Advanced Novice Division.
I could not find any videos of this team.

Karina Uzorova & Ilias Ali KAZ
SD Blues: Only You; Swing
FD Live for the One I have; The Age of the Cathedrals; The Refugees (all from Notre Dame de Paris) by Richard Cocciante
They are coached by Kuralai Uzurova, & Maia Usova. Their choreographer is Maia Usova. Ilias is almost 18, and Karina is 15.
They earned their personal best score of 102.77 at the Youth Olympic Games 2012, where they finished sixth.
They are the Senior Ice Dance champions of Kazakhstan. They finished twenty-second year at World Juniors.
They earned 106.87 at last December's Santa Claus Cup,finishing seventh, and finished sixth at the Istanbul Cup.
Their short dance at last year's JGP Baltic Cup:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJE2uHZiQH8

Sara Cibulkova & Aivaras Stravinskas LTU
SD Blues; Swing
FD Never Do a Tango with an Eskimo by Alma Cogan; You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield
Sara & Aivaras's coach & choreographer is Rostislav Sinicyn. Aivaras is 16. Sara's age is not on their ISU biography. They train in Oberstdorf, Germany.
This is a new team, formed after Ilona BIRGELAITE & Aivaras STRAVINSKAS (LTU), the current Lithuanian silver medallists, split up. Sara used to skate in singles up through the Novice level for the Czech Republic.
This is their first international event.
There is a video of Sara, skating singles from March 2012http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtePXjmJ1xg
Here's Aivaras skating with his former partner from last year's JGP Baltic Cup:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgOsnS_FJF4

Valeria Gaistruk & Alexei Olejnik UKR
SD Hip Hop; Blues: Aint No Sunshine by Bill Withers
FD Baron Muenchhausen (soundtrack) by Roman Surzha
Their coach & choreographer is Maria Tumanovskaia. Valeria is 14, and Alexei is 18.
This is their first JGP competition. I haven't found any videos of them.